Bulls News: Latest on Zach LaVine's Health, Status of Knee Injury

Zach LaVine has played 470 games during his eight-year NBA career—206 with the Minnesota Timberwolves and 264 with the Chicago Bulls, his current team. And there's one thing that all of those games have in common: they've all been regular-season contests.

The 27-year-old guard has never made it to the playoffs, and a big part of that is the fact that he's played for rebuilding franchises. However, there's a high probability that he will soon be making his postseason debut.

With 10 games to go in the regular season, the Bulls are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference at 42-30. They are two games ahead of the Toronto Raptors, who are in seventh and would be the first of four teams in the play-in tournament.

Recently, LaVine has been dealing with left-knee soreness, and he told Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports he's "not 100 percent" but that he's "still able to go out there and be effective." Perhaps other players would consider sitting out. LaVine hasn't been to the playoffs, though, and he seems to be doing everything he can to try to get Chicago there this season.

"People know I play through injury. I hate missing basketball games. I'm a team-first guy," LaVine recently told Marc J. Spears of Andscape. "Even when I'm not 100 percent, I'm helping the team. Obviously, I have to watch out for myself and do due diligence on my rehab and how I feel. I just have to maintain it, and I will."

According to Spears, Bulls head coach Billy Donovan said that the team is going to continue to manage LaVine's injury the rest of the season. He was listed as questionable for Tuesday's game against the Milwaukee Bucks, but he suited up and tallied 21 points and seven assists in a 126-98 loss.

LaVine is listed as probable for Thursday's game against the New Orleans Pelicans, so it's likely he's going to be in the lineup again. However, Donovan has acknowledged that LaVine hasn't been at full strength of late.

"He hasn't been himself. There is no question about that," Donovan told Spears. "I don't know to the extent that it is limiting him. No question it is limiting. I kind of go off of how he is feeling. ... We are just going to have to manage the situation. He just wishes he was feeling better."

LaVine will likely be feeling better if the Bulls get into the playoffs. And it could be that possibility that is helping him power through and play as much as he can down the stretch.

Even though LaVine has been battling this knee ailment, he's still had a strong season. He's averaging 24.5 points in 59 games while shooting 47.9 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point range. He's also helped Chicago secure its first winning season since the 2015-16 campaign.

So it will be interesting to see how the knee injury affects LaVine down the stretch. But at this point, it seems unlikely he's going to let it keep him off the court, at least not for long periods of time.